


12 Days of Christmas 2019 Day 11

by PatchworkIdeas



Series: GatheringFiKi 12 Days of Christmas 2019 [11]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Adventure, Children, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:00:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21919501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PatchworkIdeas/pseuds/PatchworkIdeas
Summary: Just another (almost allowed) trip to the woods.
Relationships: Fíli & Kíli (Tolkien)
Series: GatheringFiKi 12 Days of Christmas 2019 [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1569745
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14
Collections: GatheringFiKi - 12 Days OF Christmas 2019





	12 Days of Christmas 2019 Day 11

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by GatheringFiKi's gorgeous Photoset!
> 
> Posted here with permission, and can be found on Tumblr [here](https://gatheringfiki.tumblr.com/post/189828013331/12-days-of-christmas-day-11-stories-inspired-by)

* * *

Their little town was all a flutter with the last preparations before winter. 

"It will be a cold one", was fearfully whispered when they thought the young ones couldn't hear. Everyday they went out-to get thick wooden logs, to hunt and to gather the last nuts, berries and anything eatable or usable, before the winter arrived in full, forcing them to stay inside all day, and live off the spoils of the past. 

Little wonder then, that two little boys wondered why _they_ weren't among the grown-ups out there! They knew how to wield weapons! Well, Fili could wield the little daggers he had started training with last spring. His fathers old sword proved to be heavier than he expected-not that he was about to tell his little brother that, after all the trouble they went to to borrow it!  
Kili, refusing to be left behind-whether for adventure, mischief or any training Fili received-had a small bow and arrow set, blunt and only flying just a few precious feet when he knocked the arrow with all the strength his young arms had.  
Dwalin had refused to let his little brother near any blade, afraid his clumsiness would cost him an eye.  
This had been the compromise.  
Once Fili had explained to his brother that he could take care of enemies long before they reached Fili-while he himself would only have the choice of any that his little brother generously left over for him-Kili fell in love with his unusual weapon.  
What little brother didn't want to be the hero of the day? 

And so it was this day as well. Kili had insisted they needed to go out into the woods, urgently.  
Fili wasn't convinced they would be able to hunt anything, but didn't want to bring his brother's good spirits down. Maybe they would get lucky and find a hare at least?  
Either way, it sounded like a fun adventure.  
And mother had been awfully stressed out with preparations lately, much more likely to snap at them.  
She did always say that she wished they wouldn't be underfoot so often. 

So it was decided Fili would distract mother, charming her with his silver tongue and half-true promises, while Kili would sneak around and gather supplies for their big adventure.  
They didn't consider a note this time-mother hadn't found it last time and their punishment had been vicious and lasted for weeks! ...Well, one week. Which might as well be a whole year for two boys stuck inside writing lines in the middle of summer! 

Mother, distracted with lists, and guests and an oven that didn't have quite the right temperature and what ever else grown-ups fretted about, was easily convinced to let them spend some time out training as long as they didn't leave the area.  
Well, technically, the nearby woods were part of their area, weren't they? And there would be plenty of other hunters there for sure, so it should be fine. 

They carefully made their way to the edge of the woods, and darted inside when they were sure no one was around to stop them. Just in case.  
Only when they were sure they couldn't be seen anymore did they stop to check their provisions for their newest adventure. 

Fili proudly related how he had managed to weasel a bag of nuts out of their mother, on top of their permission to train. (well, technically she just gave it to him, but that wouldn't impress Kili very much)  
Kili's grin just got wider though, as if even that couldn't beat his own trickery. He pulled out a single cookie from his coats pocket, holding it up as if it was gold. 

"I'm sure you won't be able to guess how many of them I got?" he sing-songed, waving the cookie around tauntingly. 

Fili just groaned, knowing exactly what Kili had done and cursed his little brother's rashness. 

"Don't you think she will notice if the tree is suddenly empty?! It's one thing if it's one or two when no one's looking, but to take as many as you could?! We will be in so much trouble when we go back! And after all my hard work, too!" 

Kili just scoffed, angry that his genius wasn't being appreciated.  
"Well, then I suppose I will just have to eat them all myself if you don't like it!" 

Fili swiftly stole the still waving around cookie, and they bickered animatedly while going deeper into the forest. 

The air was crisp and fresh out here and while they didn't see any animals worth hunting, their conversation was lively and enjoyable regardless.  
Kili started wildly gesticulating as he often did, especially when talking about something he was passionate about. Fili liked it much better than when he got quiet after some older kids laughed at him for his little bow-even if it was probably scaring off any game around. 

But Fili did see something, in the middle of his brother's rant about how he would prove his worth and become the best warrior-alongside Fili of course-in the whole world until no one would ever laugh at him again.  
It was just a small flash of colour, tawny, but his hand shot out to cover his brother's mouth, while swiftly pointing in the direction of their possible prey.  
His brother, opposite of what anyone else might say about him, caught on immediately and went into a crouch, focused and taking care where he stepped.  
This was a bit like when they sneaked down in the middle of the night to steal a few cookies-just with a much bigger reward.  
Kili held his little bow at the ready, and Fili readied his sword. 

But when they got to the place that Fili had seen, they were disappointed. 

"A dragon?!" 

Or well, Fili was disappointed.  
Kili was happily grabbing and examining the little carving of a dragon, caught in mid-flight. It must have been a necklace, judging by the broken string, and looked well crafted. Though Fili didn't know why anyone would want to wear a dragon of all things over ones heart.  
He was just about to voice this question when Kili suddenly got still, eyes big on something behind him. He didn't look scared, more in awe, so Fili slowly, carefully, turned around. 

It was a deer. 

It looked at them for a long moment, and Fili didn't dare to breathe. He had trained a lot, and he had seen dead animals brought into town of course, and this one must have been young based on antlers and size, but it was still so much bigger than they were. Fili wondered if he could reach it with his sword, if Kili was readying his bow behind him, but the moment passed, and it was gone in a second.  
Fili was heartbroken, against all odds they had encountered something and then they had let it get away!  
Turning around, sure he would have to console his brother, Fili was instead surprised by the sparkle in his brother eyes. His little hands were still holding the dragon-hadn't even _tried_ to string his bow-and he looked as if he had seen a miracle, all big eyes and wide smile and giddy joy. 

"Did you see that Fee?!" he started gushing as soon as he realised that he had his brother attention.  
He instantly launched into a lightning fast explanation how that must have been one of the forest guardian spirits he had heard some travelers talk about the night before and how it had glowed and wasn't it awesome and no, of course he couldn't shoot a spirit they would have been cursed for that!!!

Regardless of how much Fili tried to make him see that it had just been a deer, that whatever he had heard had been nonsense, Kili held steadfast, sure in his knowledge that the dragon pendant was magic, a gift, and that they were now blessed for not having shot "the guardian".  
Eating the last cookies on the way home-if they were going to get in trouble they might as well enjoy them-Fili figured he would just have to let mother dispel that illusion when he inevitable babbled about their adventure into the forest. 

But he didn't. And neither did the expected trouble come. Their mother welcomed them back with fresh warm bread and a kiss and listened patiently to Kili's made up story about their training success.  
The tree was full to bursting with fresh cookies.  
Uncle Thorin had returned.  
They got to stay up late, listening to tales about halls of gold and gems, statues as big as whole mountains, rooms full of gold and treasure.

Later, after they had been tucked in by their mother and after Kili had sneaked into Fili's bed like he always did, he heard his little brother proudly whisper: 

"See, blessed. Told you so." before promptly falling asleep.  
Fili looked at the little carved dragon on the bedside table, and at his precious little brother wrapped all around him. Fili didn't believe in magic or spirits anymore, but he felt blessed nonetheless.

**Author's Note:**

> [My Tumblr](https://patchworkideas.tumblr.com/post/189830155420/gatheringfiki-the-following-ficlet-was-written)


End file.
